Please stand by for a random information dump…

Contract signed

I received and signed the contract for The Stonecutter, which will be appearing in Electric Velocipede! John Klima is really a great editor to work with. He’s got a good eye for the detail, and the changes he requests, while minimal, are always absolutely essential. Or so they seem to me once he’s found them. Here are my thoughts upon receiving them:

  1. My story is completely broken! WAAAAAAH!
  2. Wait, I can fix these with tiny line edits! My story is made of awesome! YAAAAAAY!

I had these thoughts more or less simultaneously.

I’m reading The City and The City by China Miéville

Actually, technically speaking I’m stealing [info]floatingtide‘s new copy of the book and reading it in furtive dribbles when she’s not paying attention. The basic premise is.. frankly, it’s too weird and wonderful for me to spoil it for you here. Go read it. You owe it to yourself.

I’m writing again

Betcha didn’t know I stopped. Well, I didn’t really completely stop, but I wasn’t writing at my usual levels for a while. Life got too busy and hectic, so I gave myself a brief vacation to Get Shit Done. And the Shit? It got Done. Mostly. We do still need a new bathtub and a new car (no, the two problems are not related in any way).

New car?

Yeah. Our old one needs a couple thousand dollars of work on it. It’s a great BMW, and whoever buys it off us and puts in the work will have a seriously kick-ass car, but we don’t need a kick-ass car. We actually need a nice and simple family vehicle, which we can buy for the cost it would take to refurbish our ridiculously over-powered street racer disguised as a sedan.

New bathtub?

Tree roots in the walls. Let me say that again: Tree roots. In the walls.

That’s what we found growing in the gap between our old tub and the plaster. We had to rip the tub and a good chunk of the walls out. We decided we want to replace the tub with a nice claw-foot while we’ve got the opportunity, but it’s a big pain in the ass, and we had to wait for a long time while the roots in our goddamn walls dried up and died. Well, they’re dead now, so I guess it’s time to get crackin’.

Exercise

Look at your man. Now back to me. Now back to your man. Now back to me. I… am not Isaiah Mustafa. But I have been working out, and it’s beginning to show. I bicycle a lot, which keeps me more-or-less trim, but I was beginning to have lower back pains again, which only go away when I’m getting enough upper body exercise. Being tall is a mixed bag. Sure, I can reach the top shelf, change the ceiling light, and annoy the guys behind me in the movie theater when I sit up straight, but I also have the odd back and neck trouble, and I probably hit my head more than is healthy, strictly speaking.

In any event, I’ve been hitting the gym again. If enough people request it, I will post photographic evidence thereof. Perhaps I will wear a towel, like Mr. “Old Spice Guy” Mustafa.

Baby due December 19th

I have mentioned I’m going to be a dad again, haven’t I? Well, I am. We’re expecting our second daughter in December. Now you know, internets!

OK, I think that’s about it for now. If my real life is too boring, feel free to provide some additional details of your own devising in the comments below.